Here are my comments on C-SPAN's latest
ranking of the Presidents:
- Lincoln (#1): Appropriate.
- Kennedy (6): Too high. Elevated by early death.
- Eisenhower (8): A little too high. Governed well, but didn't do a whole lot. Although that's not necessarily a bad thing.
- Polk (12): Surprised to see him up that high. I was unaware of his reputation. I guess it's because he accomplished most of his agenda, including acquiring a lot of territory.
- Why does Clinton (15) score so well on "pursued equal justice for all?"
- Carter (25): Too high. Again with the "equal justice" thing. Kennedy was overrated on this, too, what with his civil-rights reluctance. Is this category just a fudge factor to boost Democrats?
- Coolidge (26): Should be higher. Looks like he got the Bush-Katrina treatment over the 1927 flood (i.e. unfair blame), especially since the federal government didn't have the all-encompassing role it does now.
- W.H. Harrison (39): I don't think he should be punished just because he died one month into his term. It's not his fault he died. He should go unranked, or have an asterisk.
You do have to give Eisenhower points just for the interstate highway system. That was genius.
ReplyDeleteI also think Jefferson is ranked too high. How does the guy who came up with the Embargo Act get such high scores on economic management? And his moral authority should be undermined by the fact that he was the first president to play blatant, nasty party politics even while publicly denouncing the very idea of parties.
I totally agree with you on JFK. He's the James Dean of presidents.
That entire list just makes me angry. How can Washington not be #1? And how does FDR rank so high? He stacked the Supreme Court, wiped his feet on the Constitution and then ran for two more terms.
ReplyDeleteUgh.
I detest FDR. On my "Things I detest" list, he ranks right above Kwanza.
ReplyDeleteWell, Lincoln was known to thumb his nose at the Constitution, but that doesn't diminish the job he did running the country at an extremely difficult time. (Also, running second to Lincoln is not a disrespect to Washington.) But then, I hate Thomas Jefferson, so I guess everybody gets one.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is Teddy Roosevelt simple because he said "Bully!" a lot.
ReplyDeleteI have similar feelings about Kennedy, but the one thing that he should get credit for is the space program. While I'm not going to get into the politics of how people think the space program is being run now, it's pretty amazing that he stood up one day, said, "We're getting to the moon in 10 years," and America said, "okay, let's do it!" While the purpose was to give us an edge in war, the space program today is also one of our most effective measures of peace, as it now promotes international cooperation.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I totally agree with the James Dean comparison.
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